Dale Earnhardt must have felt his blood pressure rise whenever he recalled the Daytona 500 of 1990, and who can blame him? For another driver, though, it was the high point of his career altogether. Ken Schrader won the pole position for the third straight year, continuing his streak of every event since the restrictor plate was reintroduced at Daytona. Schrader's luck turned bad in the first qualifier, however, as a last lap crash wiped out the car and forced Schrader to a backup.